Who was the greatest Mexican boxer of all-time: Salvador Sanchez or JC Chavez?

Not sure how well Sanchez himself fared against speedy movers. We saw all the trouble the average Pat Cowdell caused him. He can thank his lucky stars it was no Whitaker-level fighter in there that night with him because it could well have gotten embarrassing.

 

Nelson was pre-prime and vastly less experienced than Sanchez but gave him hell for 15 rounds. LaPorte also was young when Sanchez beat him. Gomez of course is his best performance and a great win. His knockouts of Danny Lopez are also impressive.

Sanchez was great no doubt, but sometimes his reign gets overrated. He could only manage a split-decision (it should have been unanimous, but was still close) against Pat Cowdell who was blown out in a single round against Azumah Nelson in his only other major fight and he also took a competitive decision over Patrick Ford in Ford's 16th fight. His decision over Ruben Castillo is his only other top level win.

Sanchez should certainly be above Lopez, but not really by all that much. Lopez of course was technically perfect, and however weak his division was, he beat pretty much everyone that mattered at the weight for a decade in one-sided, dominant fashion, plus has a win over the excellent Rosendo Alvarez when he was already past his best and easily beat Will Grigsby for the Jr.Fly title.

Sanchez tragically did not have the career that calls for him to rate above someone like Chavez, or really Olivares either.

 

You could say Nelson was green and a late sub,Gomez was coming up in weight,and Laporte was a good ,but not great fighter.Sanchez also got past Cowdell with a split dec.Sanchez is the James Dean of Boxing along with the earlier poster boy for the title Les Darcy, he may have gone on to greater heights ,he may gone on to defeat as well.Sanchez never unified his crown, Lopez ,for example was undisputed and unrivalled in his division.Canto was a dominant Champ too.Sanchez impressed everyone who knows anything about boxing ,or he should have done,his composure,versatility ,judgement of pace ,ring sense,and sang froid under pressure reveal him to have been a stellar Champion,NO WAY can I knock him,nor would I want to ,but I think there is a tendency to be a little "rosecoloured",in how we perceive him,due to his tragically early death.

 

I agree with you as far as Sanchez and pure boxers go, though imo Cowdell did have an excellent left-hand and really tricky feints.It was a good jab that really seemed to hamper Sanchez as ford and Castillo also indicated.

On an unrelated note, actually think those guys are the kind of unsung contenders that would have a really good chance of handily outslicking a Morales or Marquez.They have a lot of the flaws of Sanchez, with less talent in general.

 

Well Cowdell a good honest fighter and a decent guy ,certainly couldnt outslick Nelson!

 

I think I gave Sanchez his props,in my clumsy way I was trying to illustrate that POSSIBLY there are other contenders for the title greatest Mexican fighter,or at least the no 2 spot.I consider you a good poster ,with a slightly different take on this particular subject,no less than that,now its time for my bed[ I'm in the UK ].

 

I have Chavez at #1, Sanchez at about #4 I believe. Olivares rates just behind Chavez, more based on lack of consistency than anything, as a fighter I have him on the same level as Chavez or any of them. Ranking just ahead of Sanchez for me is Saldivar. Canto I believe rounds out the top 5.

 

Chavez was greater than Sanchez based on accomplishments and longevity. IMO Sanchez was more skilled and adaptable. He was a fluid stylist.

 

Sanchez.

 

Maybe neither. Mexico has had tons of popular and distinguished champions.

 

Has to be Chavez. The seeds of greatness were in Sanchez, but he died too young to really compare with Chavez' achievements.

 

That's a good post which I think accurately articulates the situation. I also think the Mexican tradition is so great that you could throw a couple other names in there: Canto, Olivares, etc.

As for Sanchez's fight versus Pat Cowdell. Props to Cowdell, he fought a terrific fight against an ATG. This fight was 4 months after the Gomez fight. A little letdown perhaps? Sanchez always rose to the occasion when he had to. Sanchez fought for or defended the title 10 times in a little over 2 years, in addition to a non-title fight against Nicky Perez. He WON all those fights. A couple were close but he won regardless. Unifying the title in that era was nearly impossible with all the WBC - WBA, King - Arum garbage.